Mainframes still essential for hybrid data centres

Mainframes remain an essential element of hybrid data centres, according to a new survey by business software vendor BMC, which sells… mainframe automation software.

The survey, titled Fifth Annual Worldwide Survey of Mainframe Users, found that 84 percent of just over 1,700 people asked expect to see MIPS usage continue at its current pace or grow even further over the next few years.

Things look good for the future, with 60 percent of respondents suggesting that mainframes will attract new workloads over the next year.

The most important priority for mainframe users in 2010 has been reducing costs, with 65 percent picking that answer. Disaster recovery came in second at 34 percent, while application management and business/IT alignment came in at 30 percent and 29 percent respectively.

Hybrid data centres were a key focus of the survey, thanks to the launch of IBM’s zEnterprise earlier this year. Mainframes are still seen as a key component of these hybrid data centres, with some businesses looking for a more integrated approach to mainframe software. Wonder who provides that.

74 percent found that monitoring and event automation was an important cross-platform tool for hybrid data centres. System and task automation was also high on the list at 73 percent. Workload/batch management and performance tuning came in at 69 percent and 66 percent respectively.

A friend of TechEye said: “Just sent an email to a different PR who forwarded me a report that BMC did on mainframe usage. Basically says something like 95 percent of respondents see a big future for the mainframe and 45 percent say they will introduce specialty [sic] engines (virtualised appliances on the mainframe) in the next year.